Premier League: The 4 Biggest Injuries so Far This Season

They say every misfortune has a subtle silver lining.

An injury to a key player may be one that brings the best out of a player that would otherwise have taken up a secondary role in the side or reignite the energy from a player coming towards the end of his career.

But it’s often difficult for managers to foresee the kind of devastating impact injuries may well have on their entire Premier League campaign. It’s even more difficult to plan and prepare yourself when the unexpected does come around.

In terms of importance to their club and the impact a long-term injury can have on a team, it should come as little surprise that the four biggest injuries so far this season have come from midfield.

Jack Wilshere

Jack Wilshere’s importance to Arsenal this season cannot be stressed enough.

With the departure of a number of big-name players this summer, Arsene Wenger had put a lot of faith in Wilshere to be the inspirational driving force for the team.

However, the young England international suffered an ankle injury in preseason which, at first, seemed to be a minor setback, but upon further inspection and little improvement, Wilshere had to go under the knife and will now be out of action until after Christmas.

With the long-term injury of Thomas Vermaelen last season, it seems Arsenal are continuing to struggle with the loss of key players through freak injury.

Wilshere, at only 19, had played in well over 50 games last season for the Gunners, and despite warning of burnout, Arsene Wenger persisted with the player.

Stuart Holden

Stuart Holden’s importance to the current Bolton Wanderers side may come as a surprise to many.

The player was initially brought over to England from Major League Soccer at the request of Owen Coyle. But, at the last minute, Holden left the Burnley training camp and arrived at the Reebok Stadium with newly appointed manager Owen Coyle.

His impact in the Premier League has been impressive, with the midfielder playing a big part in The Trotters’ early season form last year.

But as soon as he picked up his knee injury, Bolton’s form started to slide dramatically. The club started to flirt with relegation and truly missed the energy Holden provided in the middle of the park.

The big setback came last night when it was announced that Holden would miss a further six months due to complications in his recovery.

Michael Essien

Michael Essien is yet to feature for Chelsea this season following surgery to repair a ruptured cruciate ligament.

Yet while Chelsea remain in third place in the Premier League, the loss of the power and security Essien provided has been missed.

Jon Obi Mikel has often looked out of place whenever he has performed for the side and Ramires, despite being a source of energy in the Chelsea midfield, is nowhere near as effective as Essien in a similar role.

Without Essien, who is still the right side of 30, Andre Villas-Boas may continue to find a smooth transition from defence into attack and the safety the player brought protecting the back four.

Tom Cleverley

Unlike the other players in this list, Tom Cleverley will not be missing from the Manchester United midfield for an extended period of time. The player will only miss a total of four weeks following an injury picked up away to Bolton Wanderers.

But it’s the impact such an injury may have that will come as the devastating blow.

Cleverley, who came on as a second-half substitute against Manchester City in the Community Shield, had managed to cement his place in United’s midfield three, often acting as a creative outlet alongside more conservative players in Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick.

Cleverley had done extremely well to force his way into the side following a successful loan spell at Wigan last season, and had managed to build up some momentum leading into the Champions League campaign.

It’s often difficult to tell the kind of impact a month-long injury will have on a player, but there will surely be concern on the part of Cleverley, and whether he will be able to force his way into the side immediately upon his return.